VINTAGE it wasn't - but Newcastle United completed a week of three big results by scraping victory against Norwich City.

It started with a battling draw against Everton on an evening when they were outclassed.

Then came the Europa League stalemate with Maritimo which sets them up nicely for two home games against Brugge and Bordeaux.

And yesterday they ground out a 1-0 win over Norwich that puts them back into the Premier League top 10 and within swinging distance of the top four.

But let’s make no mistake here, it was far from pretty against the Canaries and at times extremely nervy.

True, if these are the type of results Newcastle pick up when they are below par, then we only have a season to look forward to when United’s stars are all on top of their game.

At the moment only Demba Ba and Hatem Ben Arfa – Newcastle’s only scorers in the Premier League this season so far – seem capable of influencing games positively, while others like Mike Williamson, James Perch, Vurnon Anita and Steven Taylor are offering enough battling spirit to get through 90 minutes.

Sensing a difficult encounter, Alan Pardew had called for the Toon Army to get behind those in black-and-white – and, just like they always do, they did him proud.

They needed it too, some more than others, but hopefully this win can boost morale.

On a nervy afternoon at Gallowgate, United felt their way through 90 minutes of huff and puff, with the odd moment of creativity often blighted by a failure to finish off chances in the final third.

Yes, Newcastle made life hard for themselves against a Norwich team that was always going to be up for the fight under Chris Hughton.

The build-up to this game had featured the prominent theme of the Londoner’s return and it took just 39 seconds for a chorus of “There’s only one Chris Hughton” to spread around the ground.

It was short and sweet, just like Pardew had asked for before the game.

Hughton can have no complaints about his side’s start either, as they penned Newcastle in their own half during the opening exchanges.

But after a minor reshuffle from the Magpies, Anita dropped back to right-back and Perch stepped into midfield.

It was a move that appeared to unlock some fluidity.

Both players looked much more comfortable, and a breakthrough for United soon followed.

Steve Harper rolled the ball out to Hatem Ben Arfa on the right, and his weaving run and pass found Demba Ba, who put all talk of his future to one side, kept his head and rolled it past John Ruddy for his fourth of the season.

It was a team goal, and at that stage the hope was that more would follow.

Ben Arfa was clearly orchestrating things for the Magpies in the first half, and not for the first time this term in a Premier League game looked head and shoulders above some of his team-mates.

Which makes the game’s main talking point even more baffling.

There should have been no doubt that Ben Arfa – a man in a rich vein of form – should have been the man to take United’s stoppage-time penalty.

For some reason, though, United skipper for the day Jonas decided to go down Sentimental Avenue and, with Ben Arfa grasping the ball, he instructed him to give it to Papiss Cisse.

It was a bad call and could have cost United dearly.

It has been obvious that Cisse hasn’t been himself for some reason this term.

The knowledgeable Geordie punters could clearly see this – hence his name was chanted warmly during a first half of missed chances for the Senegal striker.

As suggested by fans in the Milburn Stand in the first half, the possibilities of him being unable to “hit a barn door” or incapable of connecting with a cow’s backside with a banjo had both been raised.

Unsurprisingly, given Cisse is a man out of sorts, his penalty – awarded after Mike Williamson was shoved over by Steve Morison – was blazed hopelessly and helplessly into the Gallowgate End. It was a shocker, but anybody who had witnessed his spot-kick in the Algarve in pre-season against Olympiakos could have seen it coming.

Cisse looked a distant figure from the Premier League superstar who had stunned world football when he bent the ball past Petr Cech in May, but his performances have spiralled seriously since then.

Granted, when it comes to the game’s hot-shots class is permanent and form is temporary.

And he will have better days ahead.

For now, though, Newcastle must wait until he prods one in from two inches and gets back on a hot streak.

It didn’t come in the second half, but then again he wasn’t the only one to fail to kill the game off.

The sturdy frame of John Ruddy saw to that with some key blocks as he kept the game wide open.

Ben Arfa was denied when he somehow kept out Ben Arfa’s cannonball and Cisse could have sealed it too, yet it just wouldn’t go in.

Norwich always looked dangerous on the break and, apart from some crazy moments of severe risk-taking from sub Cheick Tiote as he dribbled around players in front of his own box and clobbered a couple of City players in a high-octane 16-minute run-out, the Magpies did just enough to hold on.

Hughton felt his side deserved more, but for United a win is a win.

And this victory could well have bottomed out some good foundations on which to build in the coming weeks.